Zelenskyy says the full withdrawal of Russian troops is the ‘bare minimum’ he will accept

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the full withdrawal of Russian troops is the “bare minimum” that must be done.
• He said that Vladimir Putin is making “authoritarian decisions” and that the two of them must end the war.
• Zelenskyy also accused Russia of committing genocide in Ukraine, calling it “the elimination of the whole nation.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the full withdrawal of Russian troops is the “bare minimum” he will accept. 

“This is the bare minimum that we have to start the de-occupation with. It should be 100% withdrawal of troops to the borders that existed prior to the 24th of February, at least,” Zelenskyy told Margaret Brennan during an interview on “Face the Nation” on CBS News. 

In the interview on Sunday,  Zelenskyy also accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of committing genocide in Ukraine, calling the invasion “the elimination of the whole nation and the people.” 

Last week, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that it would scale back assaults on the capital of Kyiv amid peace talks between the two countries. One Ukrainian MP said the move was an attempt to “save face,” and that Russian forces were really “kicked” out of the city, prompting concerns about whether the Kremlin really wants peace.

“I can’t even have a meeting when the shelling is going on. So first the cease-fire. Then we can have a meeting with the Russian president,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday. “He’s making these authoritarian decisions. What do we need this bloodshed, drama, performance for? Let’s simply sit down together the two of us.”

Zelenskyy said he and Putin must decide “when the end of the war will come” while still preserving Ukraine’s sovereignty.

“How can you imagine leaders of the global countries meeting at the time when the tanks will be still on our territory? So the guns and the cannons and the tanks, cannot dictate us, what the future will be for Ukraine. This is what Russia started when they started the war,” he said. 

Ukraine and Russia have conducted peace negotiations in Turkey and virtually, during which Ukraine has offered to never join NATO and remain neutral in exchange for significant security guarantees.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that the negotiations were “not easy,” Reuters reported. 

“Ukraine is a very difficult country, very difficult for us. In its current state it is hostile towards us,” Peskov said.